Following a night and early morning visit to Justice Square on King Street in downtown Kingston, which is home to the Supreme and Appeal courts, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie, backed by Kingston Mayor Andrew Swaby, on Wednesday told dozens of homeless individuals that they will no longer be allowed to loiter in those precincts.

McKenzie, while making it clear that there was no intention to use “brute force” against the homeless or “take them anywhere and park them”, said the authorities are forced to take action as some of the homeless individuals have not only littered the space but have taken to setting fire to the facilities there.

“I am here this morning because of concerns that have been raised — and we see it for ourselves — about some of you who hang out around the Supreme Court on King Street. I was there last night with some of you and I listened to your concerns. Some of you admitted that you don’t go to the shelter, you rather stay on the road. It’s not every one of you who are on the street give problem, some of you deal in drugs, deal in illegal activities, and the police know those of you who are operating illegally. But I am saying to you this morning that the condition around the courts is not something we are going to tolerate much longer,” McKenzie said firmly.

“A couple nights ago, some of you set fire behind the courthouse; that is unacceptable and I make no apologies about it, we are going to do what is necessary to prevent it from happening. I have been patient with you since I was mayor, I have been treating you good, and Mayor Swaby has been treating you good, but you are pushing us now to the edge,” McKenzie stressed.

The local government minister, who was addressing the individuals during a breakfast meeting at Marie Atkins Shelter on Hanover Street in downtown Kingston, said having collected the data of the individuals who frequent the space, the authorities “are going to start to make the arrangements to get you into the shelters”.

“We cannot afford to have any more of you sleeping out there, because over the last couple of weeks the police have reported high incidence of abuse to many of you who are sleeping out there. Last night unuh told me that some young boys pass and stone unuh and buss up unuh head and all sort a things. We cannot afford for that to happen to you. We have places downtown for you to go, but some of you develop this culture, this habit that you must be on the road; it is not safe for you to be on the road,” a McKenzie declared firmly to murmurs of “So true, a true, a true,” from some individuals.

“You can all do better. One of the things some of you said to me last night is that the reason you stay around there is that people pass and give you food to eat; the same food that they give you that don’t taste good unuh dash it weh and nasty up around the courthouse. Is one thing that you are out there, but if you keeping the area clean it wouldn’t be bad, because the mayor has to wash it down, we have to do all sorts of things to keep it clean,” he noted further.

“Understand that around our courts, our judicial system, that area [has to be] kept in good condition. So I am giving all of you notice that we are going to be putting measures in place, we are not going to allow any more gathering around the court and nastying up the place,” McKenzie added.

He, in the meantime, said individuals dealing in drugs will be dealt with separately.

“Those of you who a touch the drugs, leave it alone. If you have a drugs problem, tell the officers. We will find help for you. Those of you who have mental health challenges, based on the survey we have done, we know and we will be working with the Ministry of Health to assist in that. Those of you who have to go to Bellevue, once we find you and we have done the assessment you will go to Bellevue,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Mayor Swaby urged the homeless individuals to cooperate with the authorities.

“It is because we care for you why we want to take you off the streets. You might say that we don’t have the best conditions, but the conditions that we have here and at Church Street [are] way much better than on the streets. When we have you here, we feed you twice per day, we allow you to have a bath, we allow you to have change of clothes, and we seek medical help for you. When you are on the streets, sun come bun yuh, rain come wet yuh,” he outlined.

“Rain a wet wi said way out dere so, Sar. All when dem in here and rain a fall, dem nuh put wi in here so, Sar,” one female countered.

Swaby, continuing, however said some individuals were opposed to the idea of staying in shelters because of their unwillingness to live by rules.

“When hurricane come wi haffi a worry weh yuh deh and try find weh yuh deh fi put yuh a safe place. So hear wah happen now, some of yuh a talk, but because yuh nuh waan live with certain rules yuh nuh waan tan yah, but everywhere yuh go have rule, even pon di road have rule. So if you stay here or at Church Street it’s better,” he said.

He, in the meantime, appealed to individuals wanting to feed the homeless to take the meals to the location at 65 Hanover Street.

“We asking the people who carry the food come give yuh on the streets, carry di food come yah so and meck wi feed unuh. We want to make sure that the quality food you get is up to standard, so we a go mek a effort, we not into the brute force thing, wi a reason as Jamaicans. You are in a little unfortunate situation right now, I don’t know if I will be unfortunate like you, but we want to take care of you with the little resources that we have,” the mayor stated.

The move to relocate the homeless from Justice Square comes after repeated calls from the judiciary, the latest during the official opening ceremony for the Michaelmas Term for the Appeal Court at the end of September.

Senior Appeal Court judge, Justice Paulette Williams, presiding over the official opening ceremony in the absence of President Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop, said the recent fire at the rear of the court building — allegedly caused by the actions of a homeless individual — was sufficient notice before other more sinister events take place.

“We have done our best; we cannot stress our efforts to try and get the powers that be, the authorities, to address this nuisance. We have earned a reputation as a people of being reactive more than proactive, but we hope that this situation will not lead to something that we will end up saying, ‘If only’, and, ‘If wi did’. So, we continue to ask you to be cautious in your dealings with these people as they gather around us and to be aware of them,” she said.

For years, Justice Square — which houses the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions — has been a refuge for dozens of homeless people, some of whom are mentally challenged and roam at will in different stages of undress.

This homeless senior citizen is served breakfast by Mayor of Kingston Andrew Swaby, and Donna-Gaye Brady, inspector at Marie Atkins Night Shelter on Hanover Street in downtown Kingston on Wednesday morning. The genteel woman was among several other individuals participating in a meeting with Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie and Mayor Swaby at which plans to remove the homeless population from Justice Square on King Street in the capital were announced. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)